I bought one in November 1998 ($1299 then, roughly $2400 today). It was an upgrade for me from an ancient Mac SE I’d had since 1990. The thing that struck me then was how easy the online purchase process was. There were very few options to pick from. It looks like I ordered it on 10/24/98 and had it by 10/28/98, which too was fast compared to other online computer purchases I’d done that year.
And…it just worked out of the box. No messing around with IRQs and other tweaks that I had to use with my work day systems. Software was limited but IIRC Microsoft had updated Office as part of the earlier deal with Apple, and between Office, the dotMac suite, and web browser you could do most routine things just fine.
Apple just totally nailed the end to end experience of buying, shipping, and using the system, which was a refreshing change from the status quo those days.
And…it just worked out of the box. No messing around with IRQs and other tweaks that I had to use with my work day systems. Software was limited but IIRC Microsoft had updated Office as part of the earlier deal with Apple, and between Office, the dotMac suite, and web browser you could do most routine things just fine.
Apple just totally nailed the end to end experience of buying, shipping, and using the system, which was a refreshing change from the status quo those days.